I went to my local At&t store here I'm NC today. I won't say what city because I don't want to get anyone fired but...I've had my eye on WP7 for a long time now so I wanted to check out the Samsung Focus because I have an early upgrade waiting and it was $50. To my surprise I got there and found out that the Focus is free with a 2-year contract so I picked up the demo phone to check it out because up to this point YouTube has been my only experience with WP7. So I'm thumbing my way through the OS in amazement! The screen on the Focus was beautiful. Deep rich colors! I loved it! The OS was like digital water! So smooth! I just had to have it. Then one of the reps came over. He helped with all my questions. I was ready to get it. Then he told me that I might wanna wait because mango would be out soon. I told him that I didn't mind because I could hack my way into MangoLand once I got it home. But he got called to the back and was replaced by another rep who talked straight sh!t about WP7 and said that I should try Android. I was so offended. I thought that they were supposed to be there for my needs and interest and not to push o e platform over the other. I told him to get out of my face and to help someone who didn't know what they wanted because Android SUCKS!!!! I ultimately decided to wait for the Focus S or the. Titan but I really would like to know why he was pushing android on people!

09-20-2011, 07:52 PM

duke1231

I have heard of this with other people as well. I have even heard Verizon employees telling potential wp7 customers that it's really only a phone for people who like to play games. I have heard that Microsoft is having a real bad PR problem on the east coast.

09-20-2011, 07:53 PM

1jaxstate1

That's been reported all over the place. I never have to deal with at&t in person. I do my own reading up on any product I want. Then buy online

Sent from my Samsung Focus using Board Express

09-20-2011, 08:00 PM

duke1231

I live in Vermont, and my AT&T stores here do a great job. They don't push any phone over another one, and they do a great job of answering my questions. They seemed very pleased when I inquired about the wp7 phones.

09-20-2011, 08:10 PM

boss.king

Wow that sounds pretty bad. I would just call them out on their bad info, I always find it funny to see sales reps get their lies thrown back in their face.

09-20-2011, 08:24 PM

Jazmac

Why wouldn't you want these people fired??? If it were me, they'd be at Kinko's making copies right now.

These people should be reported to the state attorney general's office. But even more than that, Google should be investigated for price fixing or something. There isn't a coincidence like this in the world that in every state in the nation, all wireless profess the same hard sell for android to the detriment of all other phones, especially Windows phone. It doesn't happen. They don't even push Iphone's anymore.

There is some payola or unjust enrichment or something going on with that operating system. Microsoft dang near had their company split in two for the same reasoning and the AT&T was disassembled for monopolistic practices. I pray that evil ad agency is investigated, heavily fined then dismantled.

09-20-2011, 09:30 PM

ninjaap

Seriously, I think salespeople are more of a fanboy than fanboys. They will push whatever they feel more comfortable with, because it makes them look like an expert. That's why I think it's a waste of MS's time and money to train these so called salespeople. It will just go in one ear and out the other. They'll just go for the free prizes, food and alcohol. I know, because I've been to one that Motorola threw for AT&T salespeople (the Store Manager was my friend and invited me to come along). I can genuinely say that they could care less about the product. They were more interested in the Sharks game that was showing at the bar, right outside the private room they had at Dave & Busters.

EDIT: If you didn't know, MS has stated they are planning to spend time training salespeople in an effort to improve customer experience and alleviate the anti-WP attitudes, which I think will be a wasted effort.

09-20-2011, 10:54 PM

psychotron

You are far from the first and very certainly not the last person to get that kind of treatment from a rep, unfortunately. I took advantage of the free Focus deal myself. I saw no reason to wait as all the current phones will be upgraded to Mango and run it very well. But mostly because I couldn't pass up a price tag of $0.00 when if I held out for the Focus S I might find myself paying something like $149.00 instead. ;)

09-20-2011, 11:08 PM

Robes1#WP

I agree! That was part of my reasoning when I was thinking about picking up the Focus today. I like the "FREE" part of the deal! I just don't want to see a phone in a month or two with a front facing camera and 8MP on the back that will make me wanna kick my Focus through a field goal post! LOL! I might go back and get it tomorrow. I really don't care what salespeople think! I know how to find my way into places like these and I read reviews and watch hundreds of YouTube videos before I buy anything. I already know what I'm getting into far in advance. I already knew how to get my hands on Mango and was planning on installing it as soon as I got home anyway. But I was really happy with how the phone was even without Mango. WP7 is a beautiful OS! It'll replace iOS nicely!

09-20-2011, 11:57 PM

baseballbert

Came from IOS, got focus on eBay because some douchey sales person tried to talk me out of it, (ala the soup Nazi) NO COMISSION FOR YOU!"

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

09-21-2011, 12:18 AM

cckgz4

Not just AT&T. Can't tell you how many people I had to school about WP7 (Sprint, VZW, etc.)

09-21-2011, 12:30 AM

psychotron

Originally Posted by Robes1

I like the "FREE" part of the deal! I just don't want to see a phone in a month or two with a front facing camera and 8MP on the back that will make me wanna kick my Focus through a field goal post!

I guess it all really does come down to what your personal needs are in the end. I personally couldn't care less about a front facing camera, and I've gotta tell you that the 5MP camera on my Focus hasn't yet left me wanting. I took about 40 photos yesterday that I posted to Facebook and even had a photographer friend tell me what a really great shot one of them was. She was pretty darned surprised when I told her I took it with my cell phone! :)

09-21-2011, 01:39 AM

rabit1

this is very common, and I think I can guess why.

Most sales people are not knowledgeable enough when comes to new things and not so popular items. So rather than looking stupid when you ask question about it and they don't know the answer, they steer their customers right away to those products that they are most familiar with. This way they can look smart.

The problems also lies with microsoft doesn't promote and educate enough about WP.

09-21-2011, 01:51 AM

ninjaap

Originally Posted by rabit1

this is very common, and I think I can guess why.

Most sales people are not knowledgeable enough when comes to new things and not so popular items. So rather than looking stupid when you ask question about it and they don't know the answer, they steer their customers right away to those products that they are most familiar with. This way they can look smart.

The problems also lies with microsoft doesn't promote and educate enough about WP.

That's exactly what I said. But I disagree with MS needing to educate them. Once salespeople start adopting WP7 devices then they will start pushing it. And the only way to get them to adopt any device is to advertise the **** out of it. They are just as impressionable as any other consumer, because they are consumers themselves.

09-21-2011, 08:34 AM

drnikki

First post here, webOS refugee. When I bought my 7 Pro at U.S. Cellular, both salespeople loved the phone. One had had significant training and gave me a great demonstration. If I hadn't known anything about WP before I went in, I would have been sold based solely on her demo. Of course, I went in planning to buy the 7 Pro. No telling what she would have done if I'd come in undecided.

The other guy said, "I really like Windows Phone, I wish the store would have let me have one, but they only gave me Android phones to choose from." So...maybe the way to get salespeople to start adopting WP7 devices is to give them away.

09-21-2011, 08:45 AM

selfcreation

sell reps are horrible .. i remember when i got my focus ....

me: im here for the FOCUS
rep: the what?
me: the Samsung FOCUS, WP
rep: are you sure? we just got a new Android
Me: go get the focus... *pays bill gets out*

**** , i called ROGERS customer service the other day cause a MS rep told me i could BILL out apps to my Cell bill.... the rep said .. yeah NP take your FOCUS go to your android market place , download the Android bill app and then it will get charged to your bill...

would of been in person i think i would of smacked him.

even the ROGERS app that allows me to see my bill on my WP7 .. the description says

** see all your account info from your android phone *

they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOST!!! its sad...

09-21-2011, 09:37 AM

jimmy1one

Originally Posted by Robes1

I went to my local At&t store here I'm NC today. I won't say what city because I don't want to get anyone fired but...I've had my eye on WP7 for a long time now so I wanted to check out the Samsung Focus because I have an early upgrade waiting and it was $50. To my surprise I got there and found out that the Focus is free with a 2-year contract so I picked up the demo phone to check it out because up to this point YouTube has been my only experience with WP7. So I'm thumbing my way through the OS in amazement! The screen on the Focus was beautiful. Deep rich colors! I loved it! The OS was like digital water! So smooth! I just had to have it. Then one of the reps came over. He helped with all my questions. I was ready to get it. Then he told me that I might wanna wait because mango would be out soon. I told him that I didn't mind because I could hack my way into MangoLand once I got it home. But he got called to the back and was replaced by another rep who talked straight sh!t about WP7 and said that I should try Android. I was so offended. I thought that they were supposed to be there for my needs and interest and not to push o e platform over the other. I told him to get out of my face and to help someone who didn't know what they wanted because Android SUCKS!!!! I ultimately decided to wait for the Focus S or the. Titan but I really would like to know why he was pushing android on people!

Most of this sad to say has been reported. The problem is the At&T people are not trained properly with the WP7 devices therefore they push other phones. As proof I had to change out my Focus Saturday, during the authorizing process I was concerned about my contacts and my apps being transferred. Well for 10 minutes I had a rep read from a script that was just wrong, sorry but there is no other way to put it . He had me going thru all the steps to import my contact none of which applied to Windows Live Mail but rather to Outlook he froze. I told him that his documentation was incorrect, he got a manager who called in a Samsung Rep who advised there was no problem. Point being if you have a Windows Live account and Zune 4.8 signing into your windows live account and a synch automatically makes the transition and import. End of story, I asked why I had wait for a Samsung Rep and go thru 2 people before finding someone who knew what the hay he was taking about and he said "they just don't know". Do yourself a favor get a Windows Live ID and install Zune before you make any moves you'll love the move :happy:

09-21-2011, 09:58 AM

theefman

Originally Posted by DrNikki

First post here, webOS refugee. When I bought my 7 Pro at U.S. Cellular, both salespeople loved the phone. One had had significant training and gave me a great demonstration. If I hadn't known anything about WP before I went in, I would have been sold based solely on her demo. Of course, I went in planning to buy the 7 Pro. No telling what she would have done if I'd come in undecided.

The other guy said, "I really like Windows Phone, I wish the store would have let me have one, but they only gave me Android phones to choose from." So...maybe the way to get salespeople to start adopting WP7 devices is to give them away.

Thats good to hear. I tweeted them when they announced the 7 Pro was and questioned whether they would have staff up to speed and they assured me positively, nice to see they were true to their word. Given a fair shake WP7 will definitely get more sales, just have to get past the biased fanboys.

09-21-2011, 11:08 AM

psychotron

It seems from recent reports that MS is at least trying to remedy the sales training thing now. As far as advertising goes, last night I read that they had spent almost $500 million on advertising for WP7 in the past year. All I could think is "Where the heck did all that money go? Cuz I haven't seen much evidence of it.". If they really did spend that much then they got ripped off. Time to hire a new advertising firm, I'd say.

09-21-2011, 05:26 PM

Reflexx

I think that when a salesperson is actively trying to get you not to buy the product you went there to buy, then they need to be called out. Write a letter to their boss.

For all you know, they may be doing that because the commission on the Android phone he's talking about is higher. And they may be trained to do that.

But if that's not the case, and it's just pure fanboyism, then the boss needs to know what his employee is doing. And why you decided not to purchase your phone from their store.